


Imperfection

by KatMotif



Category: RWBY
Genre: Ableism, Beacon Academy, Cardin being a Jerk, Developing Relationship, F/F, Jaune is mentioned briefly, Partially Blind Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose gives Hugs, Sparring, Takes Place during Beacon, There's Some Blushing and a Kiss on the Cheek, Weiss Schnee Needs a Hug, Weiss Schnee-centric, idk what else to tag, mild violence, not quite in love yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26674993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatMotif/pseuds/KatMotif
Summary: Weiss Schnee had been expected to be perfect all of her life by her uptight, overbearing family. After her fight with the Arma Gigas leaves her with more than just a scar over her eye, she's left feeling like she can never be perfect. Thankfully, she'll learn that she doesn't need to be, with Ruby's help of course.(AU Where Weiss is blind in one eye, White Rose, Beacon setting)
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 2
Kudos: 137





	Imperfection

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea from a tweet by (scrolls down my Twitter for several minutes because it's been over a week) @thatwindrunner and it took me a bit to finish because I got a little writer's block but it's done! I looked up how losing an eye affects one's vision so hopefully I did it justice because I haven't written something like this before. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Weiss still remembered the sharp, searing pain when the Arma Gigas' blade ran across her face, rendering a scar across her left eye and leaving that eye permanently blinded. How her family had admonished her for allowing such a crippling injury to mark her, leaving her in a state that she had to go to physical therapy up until she finally left Atlas for Beacon. Her mother insisted that if she wasn't going to cover that hideous scar, the least she could do was wear a contact to give the impression that her blinded eye was still functional. The last thing a Schnee heiress needed was to be pitied.

So no one at Beacon Academy knew about her impairment, not even the other members of her team, team RWBY, and especially not her partner, Ruby. She would go out of her way to wake up well before the others had woken up to make sure of it, and would be the last to go to bed. She’d never let them see her put that cosmetic contact in or take it out, the very idea made her hands tremble. Nobody could ever know the injury had left her with more than a scar; an ugly scar and a blinded eye, scarred over and greyed, that made Weiss tear up and quietly breathe shakily in the dim moonlight.

However, Weiss was still adjusting to her monocular vision. Anyone coming up on her left startled her (the first person to make that mistake was, of course, Jaune Arc, who received an elbow to the ribs and a huffed warning and apology after), she had to be careful on stairs if she had to take them, and in a fight she had to calculate the lack of depth perception she experienced in every move. Especially when sparring in Professor Goodwitch’s class, especially when sparring an opponent like Cardin Winchester. 

Which is why it was horrifying when her contact fell out during the match. He’d caught her off guard, on her left, knocking her down and sliding across the floor. She didn’t realize what had happened until she saw the contact on the floor. She quickly grabbed it, throwing the contact in her uniform jacket’s pocket and keeping her blind eye shut, covering that side of her face with her free hand. The class was quiet, and Professor Goodwitch walked into the ring, walking over to Weiss.

“What’s the matter with your eye?” She asked, her usual firm tone softening out of concern for her student. Weiss shook her head.

“I-it’s okay. I think I just got some dust in my eye.” Weiss stammered, afraid of what the teacher would say if she knew. What anyone would say if they knew. If they saw. Gods, how many of her classmates had seen? Did anyone on her team? She looked over her shoulder, to them. All three of them stood but their expressions varied; Blake looked concerned, covering her mouth, Yang looked like she wanted to jump down and pummel Cardin, and Ruby...stared in shock.

“What’s the matter, princess? Can’t fight with just one eye?” Cardin mocked, heckling to her. If Goodwitch wasn’t standing between them, she’d send him flying with a glyph. 

“That’s enough, Cardin.” Goodwitch scolded, turning to the young man who immediately dropped his confident air and straightened up. Their match was declared a draw, and she had Ruby escort Weiss out of class, instructing them to go to the nurse’s office. Once in the hallway, Weiss started walking in the opposite direction, and Ruby followed. It was quiet for a few moments.

“You saw...didn’t you?” Weiss asked softly. She was still squeezing her left eye shut. She expected Ruby to be angry at her for hiding this; after all, they were partners, and partners weren’t supposed to hide things from each other. Instead, Ruby’s hand gently grabbed Weiss’ arm, her left arm, leading her down the empty hallway.

“Your eye...it’s...why didn’t you say anything about it?” Ruby’s questioning was gentle, much more concerned than the anger Weiss had expected. She couldn’t help but sigh and stop walking, looking over to her partner. Her eye still squeezed shut, she looked at her partner. Her open eye, blue and straining, looked at Ruby’s silver. The younger girl’s expression was soft, and Weiss couldn’t help but sigh.

“I’ll explain once we get to the dorm room.” she said, still a bit shaken, the idea of the two of them being seen when she was in this state was still causing her to tremble. So Ruby led her back to their dorm, taking the elevator (which Weiss was thankful for) and whatever shortcut they could to avoid people. Once they made it to their dorm, she allowed her blind eye to open again once Ruby closed the door behind them.

Sitting on Weiss’ bed, she told the entire story of how the injury happened, and what had followed before her entry into Beacon Academy. She understated the harshness of her family’s mindset about it, again, not wanting to be pitied by her partner. Deep down, a part of her worried that this would lead to the end of their partnership, that Ruby would see her as unworthy to even be on her team, let alone her partner. 

Instead, Ruby’s arms wrapped themselves around Weiss’ shoulders and she was pulled closer by the younger girl, a tight hug being the last thing she expected. But, it was welcome, despite her stiffening a bit at first she relaxed into the embrace, wrapping her arms around Ruby’s waist and resting her hands on her back, her head on Ruby’s shoulder. Despite herself, her self-control waivered, and tears spilled freely from her eyes. 

“You don’t think less of me?” Weiss asked, unable to control her voice’s wavering. Ruby squeezed her a bit tighter for a second before answering.

“Of course I don’t.” Ruby’s voice is soft, gentle, maybe even loving. 

“Even with this...ugly scar?” Weiss adds, whispering, her breathing shallow.

“Oh, Weiss,” Ruby spoke reassuringly, “You’re not ugly at all. I actually think...I think you’re really pretty.”

Oh. The heat that spreads across Weiss’ cheeks is unexpected, and she’s grateful that Ruby can’t see her face like this. A new light shone on her relationship with her partner, her team’s leader, in such a way that Weiss wouldn’t have considered before. It was new, maybe a bit frightening. But for the first time since the injury, Weiss didn’t feel ashamed.

Pulling back just enough, she leaned slightly closer to Ruby, kissing the other girl softly on the cheek, so briefly that she wasn’t sure the action even registered until she pulled back enough to see Ruby’s cheeks were a bit pinker than she recalled them being. 

The two smiled, but before the moment could continue, their other two teammates barged in.

“Weiss, are you--” Yang started, before trailing off. Blake stood behind her, offering a soft smile to the two of them. Weiss sighed, lowering her arms from around Ruby and placing her hands in her lap.

“I suppose I owe you two an explanation as well.” She started, her guard coming back up a bit. Yang and Blake came in, closing the dorm room behind them. There was an awkward silence for a moment, before Blake pulled away her bow, letting her cat ears out from their hiding.

“I’m sure your reasons for hiding are as good as mine.” Blake reassured her. Yang nodded and smiled.

“How about we order pizza and you can tell us while we eat?” The blonde offered. Realizing she still had streaks of tears on her face, Weiss wiped at her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket and nodded. 

Weiss learned that day that being imperfect didn’t mean she couldn’t be loved. She didn’t just have friends in Team RWBY. She had found herself a family.


End file.
